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Informist, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025

By Anand JC

MUMBAI – The cumulative net profit of the Nifty 200 companies grew a touch over 11% year-on-year for the September quarter, excluding exceptional items. The rise was primarily driven by a marked increase in the net profit of oil marketing companies, but was limited by disappointing performance from the undivided Tata Motors and banks. The bottom lines of the broader Nifty 200 companies outperformed the benchmark Nifty 50 companies cumulatively in the reporting quarter, lifted by robust performance from Nifty Next 50 and Nifty Midcap 100 companies. Including one-time items, the net profit of the Nifty 200 companies rose 10.9%.

Excluding one-time items, the cumulative net profit of 184 of the Nifty 200 companies for which analyst estimates were available grew 12.7% on year. This was much better than the 9.7% analysts expected and also higher than the 1.8% growth registered in the year-ago quarter.

The three state-run oil marketing companies – Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd., Indian Oil Corp. Ltd., and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. – reported an outsized increase in their bottom line for the September quarter. The three companies combined contributed over 5% to the aggregate profit of the Nifty 200 companies. Excluding these three companies, the net profit growth of the Nifty 200 companies moderated sharply to 5.9%.

Seven companies — BPCL, Bharti Airtel Ltd., HPCL, IOC, Info Edge (India) Ltd., Life Insurance Corp. of India Ltd., and Tata Steel Ltd. — each recorded net profit growth of at least INR 20 billion. Conversely, the net profit of three companies – Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd., undivided Tata Motors, and Vedanta Ltd. – each fell at least INR 20 billion in the reporting quarter. Combined, the net profit of these 10 companies accounted for roughly 14% of the aggregate net profit of Nifty 200 companies. Excluding these 10 companies, the aggregate net profit of Nifty 200 companies grew 7.9% for the September quarter.

Eight companies from the Nifty 200, namely IndusInd Bank, the undivided Tata Motors, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., Swiggy Ltd., Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd., GMR Airports Ltd., Ola Electric Mobility Ltd., and Vodafone Idea Ltd., recorded a net loss during the quarter. The net profit growth of 91 companies was lower than the 11.2% adjusted net profit growth of the Nifty 200 companies, while that of 95 companies was higher.

The Nifty 200 companies fared much better than the Nifty 50 companies, which reported cumulative net profit growth of less than 1% in the September quarter. Analysts had expected the net profit of Nifty 50 companies to rise 5% on year.

The cumulative net sales of the Nifty 200 companies grew 7.8% on year for the reporting quarter, a five-quarter high. The aggregate net revenue of the 184 Nifty 200 companies for which estimates were available grew 8.2% on year, slightly surpassing analyst expectations of 7.8%. Barring the March quarter of 2024, net sales of the Nifty 200 have grown in single-digits for nine quarters.

Apart from oil and gas, the aggregate net profit growth of automobiles and ancillaries (excluding the undivided Tata Motors), capital goods, cement, chemicals, fast-moving consumer goods, information technology, metals, pharmaceuticals, and real estate companies beat sectoral profit growth expectations. In contrast, banking, jewellery, power, and retail firms underperformed and could not meet profit expectations.

For a like-for-like comparison with the year-ago quarter, earnings of both Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and the new Tata Motors, which houses its commercial vehicle operations, have been added to the net profit of the Nifty 200 group in this analysis. The two businesses released their quarterly results separately, as the demerger took effect in October. This analysis is based on the Nifty 200 constituents before the index rejig was announced in August, which came into effect from October.

MARGIN PRESSURE

The net profit margin of Nifty 200 companies, excluding banking, financial services, and insurance firms, was 11.84% for the September quarter, the lowest in the last four quarters. The profit margins of these companies narrowed as depreciation and amortisation expenses rose to a five-quarter high and other expenses grew at the fastest rate in 10 quarters. Finance costs of the Nifty 200 companies grew 5% on year – the first on-year single-digit growth in 13 quarters.

"Post-COVID, profit recovery has been mainly led by margins rather than top line," Nuvama Institutional Equities said in a note. Margin expansion stalled in FY25, and pressures have cropped up in this financial year. "Consensus is forecasting further margin expansion for most sectors. We argue this could be difficult to achieve, unless demand improves or there is a supply-side tailwind from oil prices," Nuvama said.

The brokerage said profit margin pressure is slowly building up in sectors such as fast-moving consumer goods, industrials, and consumer services, where margins are already high.

BROADER RESPITE

While the companies in the benchmark index disappointed, the broader group of listed companies led the charge. The Nifty 200 includes companies that are a part of the benchmark Nifty 50, the Nifty Next 50, and the Nifty Midcap 100.

The Nifty Next 50 companies, the 50 large-cap firms that are a part of the Nifty 100 after excluding the Nifty 50 companies, cumulatively reported a seven-quarter high net profit growth of 29% on year, excluding one-time items. Analysts had expected the Nifty Next 50 companies to report net profit growth of 19%. However, their top-line growth of 6% on year was below expectations of 8%.

A sharp growth in the cumulative net profit of Nifty Next 50 companies helped reverse the dismal performance by the Nifty 50 group, as the aggregate bottom line of Nifty 100 companies rose 7% on year for the September quarter. The cumulative net profit growth of these 50 companies improved to 8.2%, including one-time items, well above the benchmark group and slightly higher than expectations. The cumulative net sales of Nifty 100 companies grew at 7.6%, in line with estimates.

The Nifty Midcap 100 companies form the bottom 100 part of the Nifty 200. The aggregate bottom line of these 100 midcap companies grew at a three-quarter high of 25.5% on year for the reporting quarter. Their bottom-line growth improved considerably to 35% after excluding one-time gains and losses, a three-quarter high again, comfortably surpassing expectations of a 19% growth. The top line of these 100 midcap companies grew at a three-quarter high of 8.4% for the September quarter, a shade below expectations.

OUTLIERS

Tata Motors was the key outlier among Nifty 200 companies in the September quarter. Including both passenger and commercial vehicle operations, Tata Motors, which usually contributes significantly to the Nifty 200 profit, reported a net loss of INR 73.13 billion for the reporting quarter.

The adjusted net loss of the undivided Tata Motors was INR 27 billion from continuing operations, compared to a profit of INR 35 billion in the year-ago quarter. Excluding undivided Tata Motors, the aggregate net profit growth of the Nifty 200 companies improved to 13.4% from just over 11% including Tata Motors.

The September quarter performance of Tata Motors was severely impacted by its UK-based subsidiary, Jaguar Land Rover, which had to shut production after a cyberattack. Weak demand for JLR cars and tariffs imposed by the US also affected the performance of the subsidiary. JLR contributes over 60% to Tata Motors' top line. Retail volumes of JLR in the September quarter fell 17% on year to 85,500 units, leading to undivided Tata Motors' revenue declining by more than 10% on year.

Oil and gas companies, particularly oil marketing companies, outperformed peers in terms of profit growth. BPCL's net profit climbed nearly threefold on year to INR 64.43 billion, IOC's net profit grew almost 42-fold on year to INR 76 billion, and HPCL's bottom line increased sixfold on year to INR 38.30 billion. The profitability of oil marketing companies surged due to a $ 5-9-per-barrel improvement in their gross refining margins as oil prices fell, while the prices of refined petroleum products, especially diesel and aviation turbine fuel, rose.

Bharti Airtel, which contributed 2% to the bottom line of Nifty 200 companies, reported a consolidated profit of INR 67.92 billion, up 89% on year and revenue of INR 521.45 billion, up 26% on year, mainly driven by a 10% growth in average revenue per user and improvement in its mobile and home services.

Info Edge's September quarter net profit of INR 47.20 billion included an exceptional income of INR 52 billion earned from mark-to-market gains made during the merger of its subsidiary Makesense Technologies with PB Fintech Ltd. Excluding this one-time item, the company's bottom line was at a loss of INR 4.80 billion.

The following is a snapshot of the companies in the Nifty 50, the Nifty Next 50, the Nifty 100, the Nifty Midcap 100, and the Nifty 200 for the September quarter, along with year-on-year and sequential changes juxtaposed with the consensus estimates from the Informist Poll of 23 brokerages:

The following table shows the net profit margin of companies in the various indices as well as their net profit margin excluding exceptional items:

Earnings estimates were not available for Adani Enterprises Ltd., Bajaj Finserv Ltd., Jio Financial Services Ltd., Adani Energy Solutions Ltd., Adani Green Energy Ltd., Adani Power Ltd., Bajaj Holdings & Investment Ltd., Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd., Adani Total Gas Ltd., Bank Of India Ltd., Bank Of Maharashtra Ltd., Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd., Max Financial Services Ltd., Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd., NTPC Green Energy Ltd.

End

Data Compiled by Vinod Bhovad

Edited by Saji George Titus

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